The NFL ‘league year’ is the elephant in the room at the Combine

League rules force coaches and execs to dance around the obvious.

INDIANAPOLIS — When a general manager or head coach steps to a podium to meet with reporters at the NFL Combine, the first thing he has to do is not get himself in trouble for tampering. To do that, the GM or coach evokes a specific date: March 14.

The Chiefs traded quarterback Alex Smith to Washington. They did that a month ago. The Chiefs also traded cornerback Marcus Peters to the Rams. They did that a week ago. Everyone knows both of these things happened, and the teams know that everyone knows. But acknowledging it publicly would be devastating because of league rules.

“Before we get started here, I want to mention to you about Alex Smith and Marcus Peters and the situation that is out there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told a throng of reporters on Wednesday. “I can’t comment on that, so I’m sure you’re going to attempt to ask, so I’m going to be rude before that. I’m not going to be able to answer questions dealing with that. Until we get to the 14th, all of that is off limits.”

On Thursday, Reid’s young general manager, Brett Veach, started a presser the same way.

“I really can’t get into the moves we may or may not make until the 14th,” he said. “ I do look forward to talking to everyone on the 14th about the moves we may make.”

Impressively, Veach didn’t burst out laughing during any part of that statement. Neither did Rams GM Les Snead in his own opener:

“We should probably just do this on March 14th,” he told reporters. “I would be able to elaborate. But since it’s March 1st, we’ll get 15 minutes in.”

This was awkward, because everyone knows Snead has already struck a deal for Peters, an ultra-talented cover corner. But a savvy reporter had to ask the exec: “Without getting you until trouble tampering-wise or whatever, why is a good cover corner so important to a Wade Phillips defense?” Snead had to answer without broaching the obvious, even though every Rams fan listening probably wanted to hear him talk about Peters.

The reason for this odd dance is the NFL’s calendar.

Most organizations start their years on Jan. 1. The NFL doesn’t do that, because that’s around the last weekend of the regular season.

The NFL has what it calls a “league year,” which starts March 14. The 2018 combine, which serves as an entry point for players in the 2018 draft, is thus not part of the 2018 league year. March 14 at 4 p.m. ET, specifically, is the last moment of the 2017 league year that included the Eagles winning the Super Bowl (and everything else from last season).

Expiring contracts don’t expire until then. And more importantly, teams aren’t allowed to make trades until then, because the current league year’s trade deadline was Halloween. The upshot is that every trade made before March 14 stays unofficial.

If the Chiefs, Rams, or Washington were to utter a single official word about acquiring anybody from the others, they’d be guilty of tampering under the league’s policy, which states:

Any public or private statement of interest, qualified or unqualified, in another club’s player to that player’s agent or representative, or to a member of the news media, is a violation of this Anti-Tampering Policy. (Example of a prohibited comment: “He’s an excellent player, and we’d very much like to have him if he were available, but another club holds his rights.”)

In 2015, before Veach was the Chiefs’ general manager, they got popped for tampering by way of communicating with receiver Jeremy Maclin during a “negotiating period.” At the time, Maclin was still under contract with the Eagles. The Chiefs lost two draft picks.

The whole thing is a charade, and it’s silly. But it’s not like it’s a huge inconvenience for coaches and execs to not talk to reporters about anything. The players in the deal can say what they want, as the cornerback the Chiefs are getting back for Smith has done:

In a few weeks, the obvious will be official.